UTERUS TO VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE AND ARTIFICIAL HEART CONVERTER
A device to convert redundant uterus to ventricular assist device and total artificial heart by capturing and extracting muscular power of uterus being mechanical energy and transfer the energy to pump blood in the circulatory system with the transfer being one of indirect transfer through transfer fluid and where required directly to blood with the uterus based compression chambers directly pumping blood in the aortic circulation at least. A system of connecting joints and pipes organized around a mode change over valve set controlled by micro controller enabling the device to operate in different modes and an external pipe connector connected to external pump which greatly extends the utility of the invention enabling patient to treat problems from lung, kidney, liver, gastro intestinal system and manage sepsis. The purpose of the invention is give additional life span or time to a patient especially with heart failure.
This patent application claims priority from the Provisional Patent Application No. 1886/CHE/2015 filed on 10 Apr. 2015.
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGYThis disclosure relates generally to technical fields of Bio medical devices in the area of ventricular support devices and artificial heart devices
SUMMARYThe invention has been developed to address the problem of heart failure, which leads to progressive damage and ultimate failure. It is from the experience of the inventor that people with progressive worsening conditions like heart failure will greatly desire an extension of life as much as possible with the additional period being highly valuable. In order to meet this important need and give a continuation of life to the heart failure patients there is a need for artificial heart system since donor heart availability is dismally low. The pipe connector with external pump of the invention helps management of other organ problems such as those problems arising in kidney, lung and gastro intestinal track and also to manage sepsis. The efforts of various inventors as reflected in the prior art all have the problem of requiring a large power supply to pump blood. The present novel invention of using the redundant organ being uterus addresses the above problem in half the patients being women with a naturally given redundant organ with powerful muscles being the uterus which is not used after having two children as required to maintain the world population. Moreover spare uterus from donor can be transplanted to men if necessary to extend life.
There are a number of devices in the market and a number of prior art devices for ventricular support and total artificial heart. But they all have a problem of external power supply being electrical and pneumatic. The present invention chiefly lies in extracting energy from the uterus muscles and conveying it suitably to the circulatory system. Various attempts have been made to utilize muscles that can be spared, as can be seen in prior art patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,810, U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,810, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,936, U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,857. U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,702 where muscles of the diaphragm have been used to provide support to the circulatory system but they all have problems of insufficient power, problem in synchronization, and practical adoption. The present invention overcomes this problem by the novel utilization of redundant uterus to supply the pumping energy by means of the energy capture and transfer device and method. The present invention supports the weak heart as a left ventricular assist device and adopts where required to replace the heart function thereby working as a total artificial heart. There are two mode of working either direct pumping of blood by compression chambers in uterus and by other mode being indirectly through transfer of pressure to blood using the pressure transfer fluid as intermediary to pick up pressure from uterus muscle contraction and then transfer the pressure to blood in the circulatory system.
The uterus is made to change from its resting state to become active by simulating pregnancy and its wall muscles trained to expand by hypertrophy under the influence of the hormone acting locally. Balloon is used to fit inside uterus during the enlargement process of simulated pregnancy with the balloon carrying the hormone dispenser.
In another aspect, the device comprises of making a new tubular connection with the major blood vessels namely aorta, vena cava, pulmonary artery and pulmonary veins by means of attaching a tube section containing valves with said valves determine mode of action of artificial heart device and said connection being a T joint with a additional flow channel. A bundle of connector pipes which terminate in a suitable pipe connector and the said valves having cable actuator, enables to change the natural hearts function of pumping blood by natural circulation to the blood circulation enabled by a artificial pump which is located in the abdominal cavity instead of being located in the thoracic cavity as in the prior art devices thereby by enabling various advantages like access to repair and easier installation of the artificial heart device.
The device basically comprises of pressure transfer system, blood collection system and blood pumping system. Pressure transfer fluid with storage of energy is used to operate total artificial heart of the type as available in prior art and commercially available wherein required application of pressure is from transfer fluid which extracts pressure energy from uterus and the transfer is controlled by the micro controller and its associated computer program instructions.
In yet another aspect, a second way of forming total artificial heart is described. When used as total artificial heart the compression chambers instead of pumping transfer fluid, are directly used to collect and pump blood in the pulmonary circulation and main aortic circulation, as there is no necessity for synchronization with natural heart. The electrical pulse to uterus wall muscles is controlled to give uniform and even compression and the lower beat frequency is compensated by larger discharge per beat. Similarly compression chambers using muscles of gastro intestinal system as power source, is also used to provide power to the left ventricular support device if not for total artificial heart.
Total artificial heart is formed with two or more sets of final blood pump to collect impure and deoxygenated blood and pumping it to lungs just like the function of right auricle and right ventricle being pumping blood to the pulmonary circulation and collecting the purified and oxygenated blood from pulmonary circulation to be pumped into the main circulatory system.
The device has a control circuits to manage time and frequency of pressure application to the circulating blood which is based on persons activity level and feed back from pulse oximetry sensors and other electrical voltage and pressure sensors forming part of the control unit which is made of a microprocessor with programmed instruction set and the microprocessor communicates with external computers by wireless link allowing monitoring. The microprocessor enables the configuration of the device to work in different modes of pumping being one of direct pumping of blood and by one of pumping through transfer fluid and by one of external pump based pumping, depending on the patients condition and need.
The above set of final blood pump is placed in the abdominal cavity rather than thorax for ease of placement and maintenance.
Connector pipe joints to main blood vessels with lateral pipes attached are grouped together and brought down through the diaphragm to connect to mode changeover valve set which is in turn connected to the blood pump and also connected to external connector which helps to make attachment to external pump. This piping system along with the external pump further enables the attachment of blood oxygenators, dialysis unit, sepsis management system, and drug and nutrient delivery unit, thereby creating a virtual intensive care unit on the move.
The compression chamber is formed of flexible wall with material of the chamber being flexible elastic polymer, elastomer and one of rubber having a covering of biocompatible polymer. Output pipeline from compression chamber is taken out through one of cervix and one of erstwhile fallopian tube location. Only three chambers are shown in the drawing for sake of clarity.
The power generated by the compression of the uterus wall is used to pump pressure transfer fluid, which transfers the pressure in the required manner and timing controlled by the control vales which are in turn actuated under the control of the microprocessor, the said transfer of pressure is to the blood taken from aorta through joint with outlet and inlet pipes and in case of a simpler embodiment wherein blood is taken from descending aorta portion in the abdomen and after pressurizing fed into the aorta near the heart.
As ventricular assist device is formed from two or more sets of final blood pump and an aorta based control valve and having pipe connections to the final blood pump for sending and then receiving high pressure blood from final blood pump. The two versions of final blood pump as shown in
Control valve fitted in aorta joint section allows diversion of weakly pumped blood from ventricle through the outlet pipe to the final blood pump for enhancing pressure and send the pressurized blood to the aorta trough the inlet pipe having directional valve.
After joining the edges 803, a cutting tool which is operated by cable, is passed through the lateral pipe 804 and used to cut the blood vessel from inside and expand the bellow section to form connected tube. The purpose of this wrap around joint is to get a lateral connecting pipe without stopping the natural circulation in the said main blood vessels.
The compression chamber is designed where required to be fitted into section of large intestine cut and separated and, with cut ends of digestive track and anus connected intestinal end joined surgically and the resulting spare portion of large intestine is used for pumping the pressure transfer fluid to supply power in left ventricular assist mode. Similarly a portion of the stomach which can be spared by stapling and suturing is used as power source for pumping the pressure transfer fluid with all other component and usage as described for uterus based system work similarly in this above two source of power.
In the drawings described, only three compression chamber are shown for sake of clarity and ease of understanding in spite of more number of chambers being used in the device.
The different modes of working of the system namely ventricular support mode, total heart replacement mode and external circulation support mode and the two different ways of pressurizing blood one being indirect through an intermediary transfer fluid and other mode by means of direct pumping of blood by the compression chambers, may appear complicated however the problem of heart failure is highly complicated and complex and hence need an elaborate and challenging system to solve and extent life in the last period and phase of the life of a person. The change of modes is facilitated by the mode change over valve set which is in turn controlled by the micro controller.
Although the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments.
In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations, processes, and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in a machine-readable medium and/or a machine accessible medium compatible with a data processing system (e.g., a computer system), and may be performed in any order (e.g., including using means for achieving the various operations). Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Claims
1) A artificial heart device powered by a redundant organ being uterus of a human body with power being the muscular power of uterus with said device comprising of:
- a plurality of compression chambers with inlet and outlet pipes for fluid which is pressurized and said pipes having valves;
- a electrical pacing means to actuate the required muscles of the uterus wall;
- a fluid pressure transfer and pressure storage means;
- a hormone supply and release means;
- a plurality of connecting tubes with lateral joints and connectors;
- a collection of valves with actuators named hereafter as mode change over valve set;
- a micro controller to control actuation of valves, control the said pacing means, take sensor input signal and also provide emergency alert.
2) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of compression chambers being made from one of elastomeric material and the compression chambers being compressed turn by turn and wherein the compression chambers having walls adjacent to each chamber provided with sliding rigid elements embedded in such away that the wall is compressible in one direction but rigid and stiff in perpendicular direction and wherein the chambers have directional valves to allow fluid to exit on compression and enter in on relaxation.
3) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pressure transfer chamber has resilient member being one of a spring to store the pressure energy and valves whose actuation and timing are being controlled to transfer the fluid pressure to final blood pump in a manner to pump blood with timing which is synchronous to the natural heart beat and wherein pressure transfer fluid is used to operate where necessary other artificial heart devices such as those already in prior art and those commercialized.
4) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair or multiple pairs of final blood pump having piston moved by pressure transfer fluid whose timing of movement is controlled by control valve and the said final blood pump receives blood from one of ventricular outlet pipe and from one of outlet pipe from connector joint connected to the aorta and from one of mode change over valve set and then, after pressurizing the blood discharges the pressurized blood into the aorta for circulation in synchronization with the weak pumping heart when device is used as left ventricular assist device and when device is used as total artificial heart, discharge the pressurized blood in aortic circulation and pulmonary circulation.
5) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a fluid return chamber collects the returning fluid from final blood pumps and then fills the multiple compression chambers and it also holds some amount of reserve of transfer fluid and wherein additional fluid return chambers are used to collect and hold blood when device is used in another mode being as total artificial heart, pumping blood directly from the multiple compression chambers into the circulatory system.
6) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein an external pump driven by an electric motor and having battery, transfer fluid reservoir and micro processor communicating with the microprocessor in the body through cable which comes along with external pipe connector with the said external pump takes over pumping pressure transfer fluid during initial growth and training period of the uterus muscles to bring about hypertrophy of the muscles and during emergency arising due to insufficient pumping and at times when maintenance work is needed and
7) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the external pump has a fast pipe connector with socket which is enclosed by saline fluid before making connection to prevent air bubble entry and with the said connector enabling a patient to connect the main artificial heart device with the external pump and wherein external pump has another extra connector which enables along with mode change over valve set to pump blood to circulate in one of a blood oxygenator, a blood dialysis unit, a drug and a nutrient dispenser, and a sepsis management unit thereby providing artificial support for other organs like lung, kidney, liver and gastro intestinal system when needed.
8) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of connecting tubes with joints being one of T joints and one of Y joints with lateral tubes and having directional valves and valves with actuating cable wherein the cable is actuated by mode change over valve set, with the said joints being connected to main blood vessels namely aorta, superior and inferior vena cava, pulmonary vein and pulmonary artery and with the lateral tubes grouped together and passed down along with electrical cables from sensors through a hole made in the diaphragm and brought to the abdominal region to connect to the mode change over valve set which in turn connects the tubes to the uterus pump and also enables to connect with the external pump through external pipe connector which passes out through the cervix and wherein the above said connecting tubes is connected directly to the said main blood vessels without the said connector joints in patients having heart with low recovery chances where the ventricular assist mode is not useful.
9) The connecting tube with joints as claimed in claim 8 wherein the joint is one of a wrap on connector joints with a central cut in the wrapping portion of the joint to enable its insertion over, that is to surround a main blood vessel, with cut edges joined after insertion by one of using adhesive and one of staple and the tube so formed is connected to the blood vessel by stapling or by sutures with the joint having lateral pipes with valve and actuating cable and a parallel flushing fluid inlet pipe and then after the procedure of wrapping on the joint and attaching to the blood vessel, the blood vessel is cut from inside using a tool with cutter inserted through the lateral pipe and operated by cable and then extending the bellow portion of the joint.
10) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a micro controller unit with programmed instructions to actuate muscle by electrical pulsing for pacing the required muscle at required time and allowing rest period, actuate valve opening by giving actuating signal to the mode change over vale set based solenoid actuators, sense pressure from pressure sensors and oxygen saturation information from pulse oximetry sensor, synchronies the working of final heart pump with natural heart beat and also control pumping activity of the device when used as total artificial heart and forecast emergency situation based on sensor data and give a warning alarm by actuating a buzzer and vibrator to alert the patient to connect to external pump for emergency support and wherein the micro processor communicates with microprocessor present in the external pump and other external computers by wireless means.
11) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a mode change over valve set being a collection of valves and tubes to enable various flow configurations as required thereby enabling required changes in the mode of operation from ventricular assist mode to total artificial heart mode and to external pump mode when required and wherein the mode change over valve set unit has electrical capacitor, battery, electronic circuits and solenoid for actuating the valves as required and wherein the mode changeover valve set has clot scavenging filters unit.
12) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a hormone release system for releasing in the uterus, locally acting hormones to simulate pregnancy and maintain the uterus muscle in functional state continuously.
13) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a foldable insert to act as retainer and holder which is locked to fixed position after insertion behind the multiple compression chambers wherein the said insert is being placed near the cervix to provide proper grip to the pumping device in the uterus and prevent its exit from the uterus.
14) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein some of the multiple compression chambers are used to pump blood directly into the aortic circulation instead of indirect way through the transfer fluid for getting better pumping efficiency when the device is used as total artificial heart and wherein some of the other compression chambers are used to pump pressure transfer fluid for use in pumping blood in pulmonary circulation as required and wherein the mode change over valve set controls the selection of flow pipes to connect to required pumps.
15) The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein part of the energy of the uterus muscles is converted into electrical energy by generator formed of magnetic element located in spacer adjacent to wall of multiple compression chamber which moves on compression in a manner relative to fixed stator coils which generates electricity to power the microprocessor and valve actuation solenoids.
16) A artificial heart device powered by redundant muscles of the human body such as muscular power of muscles from gastro intestinal system from being one of spare area of large intestine and spare area of stomach after stapling a certain portion of stomach with said device comprising of:
- a plurality of compression chambers with inlet and outlet pipes for fluid which is pressurized and said pipes having valves.
- An electrical pacing means to actuate the required muscles;
- a fluid pressure transfer and pressure storage means;
- a plurality of connecting tubes with lateral joints and connectors;
- a collection of valves with actuators named hereafter as mode change over valve set;
- a micro controller to control actuation of valves, control the said pacing means, take sensor input signal and also provide emergency alert.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 10, 2016
Publication Date: Jan 17, 2019
Inventor: KRISHNA PRASAD PANDURANGA REVANKAR (BANGALORE)
Application Number: 15/732,239